Bowling-alley lamp



June 16, 1925.

G. BURKHARDT BOWLING ALLEY 145m? FiTed Nov. 20, 1922 Patented June 16,1925.

W UNITED sT-A srATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAVE 'BURKHARDT, or cn rcneo, ILLINOIS.

"BOWLING-ALLEY LAMP.

Application filed November 20, 1922. Serial No. 601,999.

To all wlzonm't may concern:

Be it knownthat l, GUs'rAvn BURKI-IARDT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicagmin-the county ofOook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new anduseful Improvements in a Iaowling-Alley Lamp, ofwhich the following is a specilr cation. 7 v v V This inventionrelatesparticularly to a lamp for illuminating the pins in a bowlingalley and for providing a lamp adjacent the pinsto indicate that a foulhas been made upont'hat alley. The'principal object of the invention istherefore to produce a lamp of this kind, and a further object is toindicate clearly to thepin setter when-a foul has been made so thathe'can reset the pins. A further object of the invention is to providemeans for illuminating the pin setting area w thout shining into theeyes of the :pin

setter; another object is to provide a lamp of this kind in which thelamp holding sock .ets arefreely removable from the reflectors, and in.general, to produce a lamp of the class herein shown anddescribed.

In the accompanying drawmgs, F1g.- 1

represents a lamp of this kind as applied to the end of a bowling alley;Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the lamp proper; F 1g. 3 1s a face view ofoneof thereflectors; Fig.

4: is a viewof another face when not illuminated; Fig. 5 illustrates thesame face when illuminated; F 1g. 6 shows a semi-circular 1n dicatorwhich maybe included with-the face shown in Fig. 4:; and ,Fig. 7:llldStlElilBSaiL detail of the lamp holding construction.

In a bowling'alley it is desirable that Zthe pins be illuminated so thata bowler'atpthe otherendjof the alleyicansee them clearly. If this lightis left unguarded, it is hard on the eyes of the ,pin boy, and thepresent invention is intended to provide :means not Referring now more.particularly to the drawings, a series .of pins 1 are shown at the rearofan alley 2 with the present invention disposed slightly in advance andabove the front pin. This fixture comprises a tubularmember 3 having a.depending sup porting pipe 4. Extending from one end of the't-ubularmember 3 is;a reflector 5, and i at. the other end is an angularextensionti for supporting a reflector 7 Extending from "the top of thisreflector 7 is a hood or guard 8 embracing substantially a semi-circleat the edges butjhaving a central rounded depending tip 9 which extendsover the center of thereflectorcand deflects certain of the light rayssothat they'will not shine into the eyes of the :pin setter. Thisreflector? is inclined downwardly by the angular extension 6 so that thelight raystherefrom will shine, -'directly upon-the pins 1.

.. In the rear of the reflector 5 is bullseye 6 10 usually 011 one sideor the .otherof'the vertical centerIwhere it canbe seenby the pinsetter, and at the front of :this reflector there is u-sually.a-..glass1-1 witha character 12 on the lower half thereof in number :of thealley. This character is painted or-otherwise applied :to the glass 11so that it will he visible whether the lamp withinthe reflector 5isilighted or not. At

dicating the the backof the glass 11 and preferably eX- tendingoverabout half thereofis a partially transparent or opaque member 13 uponwhichdeslgnating characters 14 orthe word Foul appears insuchamannerthat when a lan1p-15 within the reflector 51is lighted, thedesignation :Foul will be :clearly apparent from :the otherendiofthe-alley. In practice, the entire outer iglass ill is coated or madepartially'opaque so that the :partitio1r113 .:and the word Foul is :notseen except -\Vl1811itl16 lamp 15 :is lighted but the character 12 isvisible gill, all times. lVhen thelamp '15 is lighted, zthe' word Foulclearly appears from the face ofsthe reflector so that both it andthenumberoftheValley i-sclearly visible from the otherend of the alley,as indicated by Fig. :5.- The main tubular POItlOIlEZIlld theangularextensions 6 provide receptacles within the reflectors 5 and 7;for removable lamp holders. -The lamps 15 and 15 are each mounted in aplug or receptacle 16 at the back of which the current carrying wiresare connected. The plug 16 may be seated directly in the tubularportions 3 and 6, but it is preferable to first secure each of them in ashort shell 17, and to secure the plug 16 in the shell by means ofholding rings 18 attached to the shell. One of the shells 17 is providedwith a cut out portion 19 to extend around the edges of a fastening nut20 by means of which the supporting tube l is attached to the member 3.V

In electrically connecting the lamps of this fixture there is a commonconductor 21 connected to both of them, and a conductor 22 connected toone of them and a corresponding conductor 23 connected to the other one.Space is provided between the plugs for loops in the conductors by meansof which the lamps and plugs can be withdrawn with their shells 17 fromthe tubular members and without disengaging the electrical conductors.

\Vith this construction it is obvious that this fixture will operateboth to illuminate the pin setting area but not to shine in the eyes ofa pin setter, and to indicate the number of the alley and the alley uponwhich a foul has been made. The lamps are easily removable foradjustment and repair.

I claim:

1. In a bowling alley lamp, a fixture support having a forwardlyextending tubular portion parallel with the alley and a rearwardly anddownwardly inclined tubular extension adapted tobe disposed directlyabove and in front of the head pin position, illuminating means in thetubular portions, that in the inclined portion being adapted toilluminate the pins, and means extending in front of the other tubularportion bearing a. designation of the alley visible from the other endof an alley to which it is applied.

2. In a bowling alley lamp, a tubular member with an angular rearextension, means for supporting the member in a horizontal position withthe extension inclined downwardly, and reflectors attachable one in thefront end of the member and the other in the extension, one reflectordirecting the light to cover the pin positions and the other beingvisible from the opposite end of an alley towhich it is applied.

8. In a bowling alley lamp, structurally connected but oppositelyextending reflectors and lamps, one inclined downwardly in advance ofbut toward the head pin position, and the other located at the fronthaving means for designating the alley when its lamp is not lighted, andadditional means bearing a different designation visible only when thefront lamp is lighted.

1. In a bowling alley lamp, a reflector, a transparent glass with anindicating character normally visible at the front thereof to designatethe alley, a lamp in the reflector, means behind said glass and normallyinvisible but visible when illuminated by the lamp to; indicate that afoul has been made, and means controllable at will from a distanoe forlighting the lamp to visibly designate to a player at the other end ofan alley that a foul has been made upon that alley.

5. In a bowling alley lamp, a tubular supporting member, areflector ateach end thereof, a lamp for each reflector, plugs in which the lampsare moimted and shells in which the plugs are mounted, the shells beinginsertable within the ends of the tubular supporting member.

(3. In a bowling alley lamp, a tubular sup porting member, one portionof which is inclined, a supporting pipe attachable through the saidsupporting member, and lamp supporting means: insertable in the oppositeends of the tubular member, said means comprising insertable shells oneof which is cut out to partially embrace the connected end of thesupporting pipe, one lamp illuminating the pin positions and the otherbearing a designation visible from the opposite end of an alley to whichit is applied.

7. In a bowling alley lamp, a reflector, a transparent glass with anindicating character at the front thereof, a lamp in the reflector,means behind said glass and normally invisible but illuminated by thelamp to indicate that a foul has been made, and a bulls-eye at the backof the lamp visible to a pin setter to indicate that a foul has beencalled and designated by the lamp.

8. A bowling lamp comprising an inclined part mounted directly above andin advance of the head pin position to illuminate the pins, and aforwardly projecting part with means indicating the number of'the alleysand visible from the other end of the alley, and means within thisforwardly projecting part and visible only when it is illuminated toindicate afoul has been called.

9. In a bowling alley lamp, a reflector, a transparent glass with anormally visible indicating character at the front thereof, a lamp inthe reflector, means behind said glass and normally invisible butilluminated by the lamp to indicatethat a foul has been made, a lamp atthe rear to illuminate the pin positions, means for protecting a pinsetter from the glare of the rear lamp, and a bulls-eye at the back ofthe front lamp visible to a pin setter to indicate that a foul has beencalled and designated by the lamp.

GUSTAVE BURKHARDT.

